Hello. I have a pretty simple flow but yet it does not run. I think I know why but wanted to check-in here.
My laundry room has a single hue bulb, added as Zigbee device. It turns on/off fine. I wanted to avoid using a $60 motion detector and just put the bulb in the room. The light switch is a standard switch; no smarts.
Scenerio… someone goes in the room, the light is off so they flip the switch (which is on) off and back on again. This turns the light on. In Homey, I want the flow to check if the light is on every 5 minutes. If it is on, wait 10 minutes and turn it off. So now the switch on the wall is in the on position again and homey turned the bulb off after 10 minutes. Next person comes in, light is off so they flip the switch off and then on again. x minutes later, Homey would detect the bulb is on, wait 10 minutes and turn it off, etc.
The flow I created is not working. It seems that Homey does not detect the status of the bulb once it is turned on again manually. There doesn’t seem to be any “state” change insight? How could I handle this scenario?
That’s your problem: you can’t switch smart bulbs like that and expect them to work properly. They are meant to be powered on all the time and turned on/off via the smart mechanisms that it supports.
Yeah, I figured… just wanted to check here and see, thank you. I threw a spare motion sensor in there and works based on Active zone now. Was just trying to save a bunch of bucks
Besides that smart bulbs shouldn’t be disconnected from the power supply as already explained, to use a build-in delay flow card is not a good choice for light automatization. In this post I explained why. It’s in German, but with a translator I guess it will not be a problem, otherwise just ask.
By the way, you don’t have to buy an expensive motion sensor from Philips Hue, you can also use cheaper Zigbee sensors (motion sensor, door/window sensor, wireless smart button) from other manufacturers.
I have tried many others and have not found one that is as reliable as a Hue motion sensor or as supported. If you know of one that works as well and is fully supported, please share the brand/model.
Beside Philips Hue bulbs, lamps and dimmer switches, I don’t use that much Zigbee devices. I use more Z-Wave devices, so I’m not able to give you a recommendation, sorry.
As the discussion is getting off-topic, I would like to go not more into detail about the reliable of the other sensors. But I have one tip: add the Zigbee sensor always at the place of use and not near the Homey, so that the sensor can connect directly to the Philips Hue lamp. Because it sounds like a communication problem to me.
